Climbing is certainly not a game of inches, it’s a game of millimetres. We have possibly more possibilities and orientations available to us on rock climbs than perhaps any other sport. So with all of these possibilities available to us, how do we find the key that unlocks the door?

Forgetting beta is one of the most common yet avoidable mistakes that climbers make. It’s all too easy to have a sequence decided upon, refined and prepared only to miss a little piece of the puzzle, where it all falls apart.

I knew straight away from the first day I climbed on a piece of rock, that I would be a climber. The movement, the adventure, the physical challenge. But can you go too far? Is there a price to chasing performance that should not be paid? I’ll try and provide some opinion and give you some ideas for exploring your own relationship with climbing.  

How do we dodge the trap of comparison to others, and relentless chasing of the next number and interact with grades in a way that’s sustainable and motivating? 

Knowing when to stick or twist is one of the most difficult things to do in projecting, especially when it’s something you’re obsessed with.

It’s often expected that bouldering outside will have us stress free and without a care in the world. We’ll be out climbing and enjoying nature on our own and totally loving every minute of it. The reality is often quite different.

What can you do to stay motivated while trying something at your limit? How can you make the process as enjoyable as possible, and still give yourself the best chance to succeed? Let’s dig in.

Fighting the weather and conditions is an uphill struggle in bouldering, and many times produces an experience that needn’t have been so involved and frustrating. So how do we try to work with nature a little more, and not fight it?

Understanding our true motivations to climb outside, is perhaps one of the hardest things to get to the root of. We’re often bamboozled by goals and objectives, which lead us away from really practicing climbing for the reasons we originally did.

Bouldering outside differs in so many ways from modern gym  climbing, and the gap is only getting larger! With macros and enormous volumes taking centre stage, crimps and foot jibs on steeper walls fading away, and gym grades getting softer than a chocolate teapot, the transition to outdoor bouldering is only getting tougher. 

Walking away from a boulder is one of the hardest things to practice in bouldering. It feels like quitting, and nobody likes to quit. But in reality, it’s one of the biggest skills, and practicing it offers a huge number of benefits, as well as avoiding a bunch of very frustrating problems!